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of any premises specified in an order of the Local Authority made
under that Act and requiring him to execute any works or to
demolish such premises, may, within three months after service on
him of the order, require the Local Authority in writing to
purchase such premises."
We have recently attempted to put the latter Act into operation
in the case of an unhealthy area which I reported to the Metropolitan
Board of Works, which is the Local Authority under the Act.
This report was not entertained, on the ground that the area was
too small.
Gas.
With respect to illuminating power—the statutory standard
being sixteen candles—the average was generally considerably
above the standard, and only on rare occasions, and when the
examination was made in the morning, did the minimum fall below
the standard. With respect to. purity, sulphuretted hydrogen was
not present in the gas at any time. With regard to ammonia, a
valuable residual product, the limit never reached the prescribed
quantity of four grains in 100 cubic feet of gas.
Water.
Extract from the report of Sir Francis Bolton, Official Water
Examiner.
"All the Companies are now more or less voluntarily giving
constant supply, under the provisions of the Metropolis Water Act,
1871, in some portions of their Districts; and the Companies are
ready to give constant supply and to affix hydrants whenever
required to do so."
In the monthly reports on the Metropolitan Water Supply,
attention is drawn to the necessity which exists for a regular
cleansing of cisterns, and also to the fact that contamination of
water from gases generated by sewage is of far more frequent
occurrence than is generally understood. Waste pipes from cisterns
are still to be found which are in direct communication with
drains, so that gases may flow back into the cistern and become
absorbed by the water. To prevent this, an overflow pipe should
bo brought outside each house and the end left exposed to the air,